The Accra West Region of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), has, over a period of one month, recovered GH¢ 2,315,423.00 from 1,390 customers for engaging in various forms of illegality.
This was after they were billed a total of 1,270,000 GigaWatts (GW) of electricity consumed.
The customers were identified during the company’s recently launched operation “Fix the Bill and Pay the Bill”.
Exercise
The exercise which started from Monday, November 6, 2023 will end on December 11, 2023.
It is being done simultaneously across all of ECG’s operational areas.
According to the power distributor, the initiative sought to capture the consumption readings for all postpaid customers.
This effort aims to generate accurate bills, engender customer confidence in the billing process and encourage timely payment of bills.
The Accra West Region has 59,416 postpaid customers out of a total customer population of 636,437 customers.
Commenting on the exercise undertaken so far, the General Manager of the Accra West Region of the ECG, Emmanuel Akinie, pointed out that the company is also using the opportunity to audit the integrity of all installed meters and retrieve debts owed it.
“Our field staff are actively auditing the integrity of every meter they encounter on the field. We have so far uncovered instances where certain customers have been involved in illegal activities, stealing power and thereby depriving the company of revenue from the services we are providing,” he said.
He said the teams discovered other customers who were not paying for the power they used because their meters were faulty.
Lost revenue
The identified customers were directed to the nearest ECG office where processes to retrieve the lost revenue and regularise their relationship with the company were initiated.
Mr Akinie bemoaned recent reports of meter thefts in some communities and announced that the company was liaising with security agencies to stem the tide.
“We have reports of some syndicates who are stealing installed meters from customer premises. Together with the police and other agencies, we are on the hunt for such persons and we will do all within our power to bring them to book” he said.
The Accra West region has eight district offices.
These are Ablekuma, Achimota, Amasaman, Bortianor, Dansoman, Kaneshie, Korle bu and Nsawam districts.
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